[Oberjej]

i'm not talking about the esoteric version of christianity here.. i'm talking about the mass media accepted version, ie to be saved, you must believe and accept christ as your savior.

all of this puts something between you and god.. they use the term 'christ+
consciousness' but in truth it is simply the consciousness he showed us how to achieve. it could also be called a buddah consciousness, or any one else who's achieved a state of enlightenment.

to say that you need some one else's consciousness implies that your's is not enough.

to say that you need some one else's salvation implies you are less than perfect.

to say you need something outside yourself implies that your lacking something inside and will never ever be able to achieve it on your own. that is the trap!

don't put anything between you and what you want to achieve. having said that, my time as a christian was so important in my development. if some one should choose to do that, i fully support it! it is their choice and should they find that faith to be beneficial to them, by all means do so. feel free to reject anything i say, lest i sway some one without meaning too. i'm only speaking of my own experiences. in the end we realize there is no right or wrong thing to do.. with the exception of doing nothing. we walk the path and we learn from it. and when we come out on the other side we are better for it.

so i guess back to the original question, is jesus important? it depends entirely up to the individual to choose for themselves. for me, jesus is important to remind me of where i came from. for others, he may have yet many things to teach them. the important thing is to feel absolutely sure of what your doing. no doubting the path, just follow it, rough or smooth, good or bad, your path is your path, you wouldn't be following it if you didn't need something on that path.